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I don't think R2's height is too bad in that picture, he's supposed to be just over waist high (3.1 feet). I think the real height problem is that of the sandtrooper. Luke was 5'-8" and Jango was 6'-0", yet even considering the armor thickness, he looks way more than 4"-6" taller. Maul (5'-9") even looks tall compared to Luke.

Nowhere in your incoherent ramblings did you come anywhere close to the answer. Thanks to you, everyone in this room is now stupider having heard you. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. -Billy Madison-

Wow.... you mean a hand painted prototype with tons of dry brushing to accentuate detail doesn't match the production version? Shock and awe. Anyone who has collected toys for any length of time should be used to that. It's called reality. The only problem with the production R2-D2 is the fact he's a bit too small.

Also, the in-hand images are way better than that shoddy comparison photo you linked to, JT.

And mentioning MOTU is laughable. Given the extensive mold reuse of that line.

Marvel Legends and DC Universe also utilizes a lot of buck bodies and painted details.

You keep telling yourself that. You don't even buy the 3.75" line for the most part and now you're cheerleading this mess? Have fun talking yourself into believing these aren't a cheap-out for a while. When Hasbro solicited these as collector-oriented, threw in the "Gentle Giant" card, produced those prototypes, and tossed in a fat $20 pricetag, you damn well better believe this R2 should have lived up since it's much smaller than the other figures in the line - and the proto had no dry-brushing at all, it was a clean, SIMPLE deco which itself was missing several potential paint apps, and this didn't even live up to that.

MOTU even with reuse is a better deal for a direct-market line than this cheap mess is for a mass-retail line. And DCU/ML may use buck bodies, but they cost a fifth less, too. Both move nowhere near as much product as SW.

I'm not finding any in-hand pics that look any better than the comparison photo shown, I'm seeing plenty that confirm its accuracy though. Jeez, even the dome looks bad from other angles, the periscope panel doesn't match the rest. If you didn't know the scale on this piece, there's no way you'd guess this is 6" scale, there's nothing that comes remotely close to that quality.

Originally Posted by El Chuxter

The only problem? Comparison from the prototype to the finished product aside, you really think that's a $20 figure?

Exactly.

Originally Posted by El Chuxter

All right. To each his own.

For me, to justify doubling the price of the figures, they need to do a little more than scaling them up by 60% and maybe adding a couple of joints or accessories. Aside from a couple of high-demand characters, most of the larger scale figures I see in the $20 range rot on shelves for ages, and I'm not seeing anything here that would set the Black Series apart. There's the increase recognition and appeal of Star Wars, but, then again, we've been flooded for almost two decades with the characters we're getting in the Black Series.

Exaaaaactly!

Originally Posted by Beast

It's a good thing they're not just scaling the figures up then.

They might as well be for how underwhelming these things look, especially Maul and R2.

While it does appear that the R2-D2 sculpt has been revised since the prototype - including putting the legs on correctly and fixing the bulging doors, which nobody is giving Hasbro credit for fixing - it also looks much better in these shots than it does in the solicitation photo. In that photo, with its completely flat, bright lighting, the blue panels are removed from his legs, making the whole thing look weird. It also appears that the prototype's panels were painted (in addition to being sculpted) while on the final product they are not. Sure there are some problems, but people should judge them by better photos first. Coincidentally, many of the photos I've seen have R2's middle leg out too far, exposing the thick mechanism that's presumably supposed to be hidden. While everyone else seems to be losing faith over these based on the new photos, I'm actually getting more excited for them since now I know what to actually expect.

R2 looks woefully out of scale there, he's supposed to come up to the SANDTROOPER's waist, not Luke's. He comes up to 3PO's chest, and 3PO isn't much shorter than Luke. At least 10% too small.

The bulging door on the prototype was standard prototype assembly issue, it was never a concern about fixing it. Same with the legs on backwards. They earn no props from me for doing their job correctly on the production line, that's supposed to be their job, if the licensee had to point it out then they wouldn't be doing their job, so I can only hope the licensee didn't point it out.

Yeah, Hasbro blew the solicitation photo on the production model, but I'm comparing all the things that are the same between the solicit photo and the in-hand samples, and they're notsignificantly DIFFERENT, there is still very budget-level crappy masking, still bald white plastic, woefully soft molding for the scale, and the legs too close to the body. At best, I could say the mismatch between the blue paint on the dome and the body isn't as noticeable on the in-hand shots, but that's it.

When you say the prototype's panels were painted, you mean the panel lines, right? They appear to be sculpted deeply and possibly painted as well, they should have been painted here too.

And that middle leg, jeez that looks horrible, why didn't they just A) sculpt it more accurate in design; and B) sculpt it to stop at the correct height? I can only HOPE that the in-hand shots are bad posing and not that Hasbro screwed up the ankle hinge range of motion that forces the middle leg to be over-extended, that's what it looks like right now.

Originally Posted by Darth Metalmute

I don't think R2's height is too bad in that picture, he's supposed to be just over waist high (3.1 feet). I think the real height problem is that of the sandtrooper. Luke was 5'-8" and Jango was 6'-0", yet even considering the armor thickness, he looks way more than 4"-6" taller. Maul (5'-9") even looks tall compared to Luke.

The Sandtrooper's height looks ok to me, Luke is a very short guy, and the Sandtrooper is wearing a helmet. The group photo on JTA is at an angle that makes Luke look even shorter.

Overall, this line looks mismanaged to me. They started the recipe for beef wellington at the outset, but cooked it like they were making McDonalds. Things that aren't even acceptable anymore on the regular line's R2-D2s are showing up here. The shoulderpads on the $50 Boba Fett are sloppier than anything the line has done in 34 years of Boba Fett figures, they are unacceptable at 1/18th scale much less 1/12th. The sculpting and painting on Maul's horns is as bad as it was 14 years ago. The Sandtrooper's helmet is at least twice as weathered as his torso, which looks about 30% more weathered than his legs. These are problems we suffer through on the 1/18th scale line because they're cheaper figures and the small scale allows forgiveness. And then the line also has its OWN share of problems in the form of cheap rivet-style capped-pin hinges, and blank spots showing when articulation is used.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

The Sandtrooper's helmet is at least twice as weathered as his torso, which looks about 30% more weathered than his legs.

I'm hoping that's something that's going to vary from figure to figure. I'm definitely waiting to buy these in a store because I want to be able to pick out the figure that I think has the best paint job.

Right now, the Sandtrooper is the only must-have for me from this line. I'm hoping to buy multiples. I might pick up Luke and R2 if I happen to have the disposable income AND they manage to seriously impress me in person.

"To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence… When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis

I'm hoping that's something that's going to vary from figure to figure. I'm definitely waiting to buy these in a store because I want to be able to pick out the figure that I think has the best paint job.

Right now, the Sandtrooper is the only must-have for me from this line. I'm hoping to buy multiples. I might pick up Luke and R2 if I happen to have the disposable income AND they manage to seriously impress me in person.

I'm hoping so too, but it's a pretty common thing with Hasbro's vendors for some reason.

Originally Posted by Beast

Then why is C-3PO TALLER than Luke in every image of the two standing next to each other.

Don't go by official heights from Lucasfilm or Handbooks. They're wrong... seriously wrong.

Anthony Daniels is said to be 5 ft. 9 in. and Mark Hamill is said to be anywhere from 5 ft. 7 inches to 5 ft. 9 inches.

In either case, Mark is at best the same height as Anthony Daniels, but you have to consider that, 1) Daniels is always standing upright as C-3PO and 2) Daniels is wearing a helmet and metallic boots, that adds height to C-3PO. I would say Daniels is slightly taller than Hamill in costume, at least by an inch of two.

Honestly, I always sorta pegged C-3PO at near 6 ft. so if Daniels is 5 ft. 9 inches, add maybe 2 inches that puts him at 5 ft. 11 inches.

But then again, let's not forget Hamill wear boots in a lot of scenes as well, which may add to his height.

Then again, I suspect 5 ft. 9 is on the HIGH side, after all Hamill is a little short for a Stormtrooper.

I'm pretty sure Hamill and Daniels are in the 5'7" to 5'8" range. Both actors' official height is listed as 5'9", but most male actors will exaggerated their height in order to get more roles; so you can't really go by their official heights.

In fact, George Lucas is "officially" listed as 5'7" tall; but since he's not an actor looking for leading man roles, he has less reason to lie about his height:

I'm pretty sure Stormtroopers are supposed to be in the 5'11" to 6'0" range. So that is a 4-5 inch difference between Luke and a Stormtrooper.

"To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence… When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis

Anthony Daniels is said to be 5 ft. 9 in. and Mark Hamill is said to be anywhere from 5 ft. 7 inches to 5 ft. 9 inches.

In either case, Mark is at best the same height as Anthony Daniels, but you have to consider that, 1) Daniels is always standing upright as C-3PO and 2) Daniels is wearing a helmet and metallic boots, that adds height to C-3PO. I would say Daniels is slightly taller than Hamill in costume, at least by an inch of two.

Honestly, I always sorta pegged C-3PO at near 6 ft. so if Daniels is 5 ft. 9 inches, add maybe 2 inches that puts him at 5 ft. 11 inches.

But then again, let's not forget Hamill wear boots in a lot of scenes as well, which may add to his height.

Then again, I suspect 5 ft. 9 is on the HIGH side, after all Hamill is a little short for a Stormtrooper.

And I met Anthony Daniels in person briefly at C4, I'm 6', he seemed a little shorter than 5' 9" to me.

As for the boots, everybody in the series is wearing low-heeled boots or flat boots, with heels that seem to vary between 1/4 of an inch and 1". 3PO's costume shoes aren't high either. This is a stuntman's version, but this is the version with the metallic soles:http://www.propstore.com/product/sta...-costume-foot/
the rest of the time, I think they had Daniels wearing metallic spats over shoes, you can see evidence of this in ANH once or twice.

Originally Posted by bigbarada

I'm pretty sure Hamill and Daniels are in the 5'7" to 5'8" range. Both actors' official height is listed as 5'9", but most male actors will exaggerated their height in order to get more roles; so you can't really go by their official heights.

In fact, George Lucas is "officially" listed as 5'7" tall; but since he's not an actor looking for leading man roles, he has less reason to lie about his height:

I'm pretty sure Stormtroopers are supposed to be in the 5'11" to 6'0" range. So that is a 4-5 inch difference between Luke and a Stormtrooper.

Agreed on all points, and good find on Lucas and Hamill.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.